Another Mopar Off My Bucket List - Barracuda Fastback

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360DartGT66 said:
Bummer. I suppose having two is a good idea to measure intake and exhaust at the same time?
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I imagine I'll get by OK with just the one. It probably could save me a little time if I had a pair. This is the first time I've ever needed to measure for length and I'm tempted to check all 16 valves just to see if anything odd shows. I'm sure we don't have any flat lobes because the motor is relatively fresh, had it's oil changed way more frequently than necessary, and there's never been any indication of debris. - But it would satisfy my curiosity and alleviate any concerns about uniformity.

One other benefit in checking all the rocker/valve clearances would be that I'd (hopefully) become adept enough repeating the process to be certain of my results. For the guys out there that have done this before, I'm sure it seems so simple that any ignoramus could do it. I'm planning on using carbon paper/tape between the valve stem and roller to see if I'm truly centered.
 
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360DartGT66 said:
Still full Winter in Nebraska, John?
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Not according to the calendar but it's still too cold for my taste. - Been in the 20s (Fahrenheit) at night lately. We're getting the occasional nice few days but I'm not ready to give up my winter clothing yet.

I checked the map and see that you're 1140 miles (1835 kilometers) further north than I am. I guess I shouldn't be complaining about the cold here! - Didn't realize you were that close to the Pole. Santa must get to your place WAY before mine.
 
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Yes. A full day, actually. We celebrate on the 24:th. :D

The Gulf stream keeps us (relatively) warm and being on the east coast of any continent makes the weather a little more habitable. If you go a couple of thousand clicks to the east from here, you end up in Moscow which is actually a little to the south of where I'm at. There they have really harsh winters. Typical inland climate.

Winter here is most years wet and a few degrees above freezing until new year's and then colder with perhaps a little snow for a few weeks and then wet and just above freezing until about now.

And dark.
 
it's great John, that you may have found the culprit with the engine issues you are having.
Maybe the FAST system wasn't such a bad purchase after all. I sure am looking forward to continue reading the up coming outcome.
 
360DartGT66 said:
Yes. A full day, actually. We celebrate on the 24:th. :D
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360DartGT66 said:

The Gulf stream keeps us (relatively) warm and being on the east coast of any continent makes the weather a little more habitable. If you go a couple of thousand clicks to the east from here, you end up in Moscow which is actually a little to the south of where I'm at. There they have really harsh winters. Typical inland climate.

Winter here is most years wet and a few degrees above freezing until new year's and then colder with perhaps a little snow for a few weeks and then wet and just above freezing until about now.

And dark.
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It doesn't sound as cold as I would imagine it being that far north, but I tend to grumble when the temperature falls below 70'. If you ever need to warm up you can stop on down for a visit Anders.
 
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ariffle said:
it's great John, that you may have found the culprit with the engine issues you are having.
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ariffle said:
Maybe the FAST system wasn't such a bad purchase after all. I sure am looking forward to continue reading the up coming outcome.
Click to expand...


I was thrilled when I actually found the probable cause of all the headaches we've had. My son is still skeptical this will solve things because we had problems long before we swapped heads. I still think that the original ECU was the culprit at first and the new ECU hasn't had a chance to perform because the valve lash problem has been here when we installed it.

I'd read too many positive things about the FAST setup to want to give up on it. I'm eager to see how things progress from this point on.
 
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69_340_GTS said:
All you need to do is measure one. The adjustable rocker arms will compensate for any minor differences valve to valve. That's why they are adjustable!
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Thanks for the advice, GTS. :prayer: I'd assumed that was going to be the case but every time I've assumed things before, they've come back to bite me in the ***. #-o I wasn't about to take chances this time. I still want to run through multiple checks to make certain I've done it correctly before ordering the pushrods tomorrow.

We don't have a cam card or know the specs on the camshaft that was installed. :evil3: If we did, I think I'd try to rig the degree wheel on the front of the engine and verify timing.
 
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1967 'cuda said:
It doesn't sound as cold as I would imagine it being that far north, but I tend to grumble when the temperature falls below 70'. If you ever need to warm up you can stop on down for a visit Anders.
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I'd love to. I'm saving cash (and bonnus points with my wife) to fly over and take a long road trip to intrude on as many FABO friends as I can.

Maybe in a couple of years.
 
There are a lot of fellow members that have a ton of experience with procedures like this. For me, this is new ground I'm covering. Please bear with me as I describe the process I used and don't hesitate to correct me on anything you might see that's squirrely.

I had read a few articles on configuring pushrod lengths and was fairly certain I had a grasp of what needed to be done. One article had recommended putting masking tape on the valve stem and then using a sheet of carbon paper between it and the rocker arm to leave an imprint of contact pattern. I understood the importance of centering the roller with the valve.

I was all set to do it as I had planned when I came across another article where they used a dry erase pen instead of the masking tape/carbon paper. It sounded simpler so I decided to try that instead.

img_6605-jpg.jpg


img_6612-jpg.jpg


The darkest color dry erase marker I had was a neon blue. I'd rather have used black but hoped it would show up well enough.

img_6607-jpg.jpg


I'd already removed the valve covers and original pushrods. The cam lobe of the first valve I wanted to check was already at it's bottom. I had verified it with a dial indicator.

img_6622-jpg.jpg


My next step was to paint one of the valve stems with a dry erase pen. It's difficult to see in the picture but wasn't hard to see in reality. When I went to install the test pushrod I was unable to slide it into place with the rocker adjusters backed all the way out and the checker fully compressed. It was close but it wouldn't go in place. So I removed the rocker shaft assembly, dropped the pushrod checker in place, and re-attached the shaft.

img_6606-jpg.jpg


After bolting the rocker shaft back down I tightened the rocker arm's adjuster to approximately the half way point of it's adjustment travel (2&3/4 turns). Then I spread the pushrod checker until it properly seated between the lifter and the rocker arm. With no vertical play left, I went ahead and added a 1/4 turn load with the adjustable rocker arm and locked the nut on it.

Next I hooked the battery back up and rotated the motor a few revolutions with the starter. Once that was done I disconnected the battery (I've tried to be really anal about it because we'd had trouble with the last FAST ECU & one MSD control box).

img_6623-jpg.jpg


When I pulled the rocker shaft back off I was pleased with the pattern left on the valve stem.

img_6611-jpg.jpg


It appeared as though I was where we needed to be on the first try. The COMP CAMS 7703 adjusting rod is 7.800" long when fully compressed. I had spread it apart 9&3/4 turns. According to COMP, each turn is equal to 0.05". With my calculations we would need a pushrod 8.2875" long.

img_6615-jpg.jpg


img_6618-jpg.jpg


7.800 + 0.4875" (0.05" X 9.75)

I still wanted to be able to repeat the process to make certain I hadn't gotten some erroneous reading. It took awhile but I set things up two more times and came up with the same results. I know that I'd said I was going to check all of them but 69 340 GTS had said it was unnecessary and I was already feeling I wouldn't be getting any different results if I continued further.

- By the way, THANKS AGAIN 69 340 GTS!

View attachment IMG_6605.jpg

View attachment IMG_6612.jpg

View attachment IMG_6607.jpg

View attachment IMG_6622.jpg

View attachment IMG_6606.jpg

View attachment IMG_6623.jpg

View attachment IMG_6611.jpg

View attachment IMG_6615.jpg

View attachment IMG_6618.jpg
 
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360DartGT66 said:
I'd love to. I'm saving cash (and bonnus points with my wife) to fly over and take a long road trip to intrude on as many FABO friends as I can.
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360DartGT66 said:

Maybe in a couple of years.
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Nebraska is considered to be one of those 'fly over' states that people avoid because it's less exciting than watching paint dry. Nonetheless, you and your wife would be more than welcome using our home as a stop while you're taking a cross country jaunt.
 
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Thanks! I'm not sure she would be interested in my choice of stops so my idea is to go on my own. As long as she gets a trip to the alps as compensation, I'm sure I'll be fine.

And I've been to Nebraska. Kearney. Drove from Omaha a couple of times. I'd like to take a look at the old cold war bunker. What's it called? AMRAD?
 
1967 'cuda said:
There are a lot of fellow members that have a ton of experience with procedures like this. For me, this is new ground I'm covering. Please bear with me as I describe the process I used and don't hesitate to correct me on anything you might see that's squirrely.

I had read a few articles on configuring pushrod lengths and was fairly certain I had a grasp of what needed to be done. One article had recommended putting masking tape on the valve stem and then using a sheet of carbon paper between it and the rocker arm to leave an imprint of contact pattern. I understood the importance of centering the roller with the valve.

I was all set to do it as I had planned when I came across another article where they used a dry erase pen instead of the masking tape/carbon paper. It sounded simpler so I decided to try that instead.

View attachment 1714882608

View attachment 1714882609

The darkest color dry erase marker I had was a neon blue. I'd rather have used black but hoped it would show up well enough.

View attachment 1714882610

I'd already removed the valve covers and original pushrods. The cam lobe of the first valve I wanted to check was already at it's bottom. I had verified it with a dial indicator.

View attachment 1714882611

My next step was to paint one of the valve stems with a dry erase pen. It's difficult to see in the picture but wasn't hard to see in reality. When I went to install the test pushrod I was unable to slide it into place with the rocker adjusters backed all the way out and the checker fully compressed. It was close but it wouldn't go in place. So I removed the rocker shaft assembly, dropped the pushrod checker in place, and re-attached the shaft.

View attachment 1714882612

After bolting the rocker shaft back down I tightened the rocker arm's adjuster to approximately the half way point of it's adjustment travel (2&3/4 turns). Then I spread the pushrod checker until it properly seated between the lifter and the rocker arm. With no vertical play left, I went ahead and added a 1/4 turn load with the adjustable rocker arm and locked the nut on it.

Next I hooked the battery back up and rotated the motor a few revolutions with the starter. Once that was done I disconnected the battery (I've tried to be really anal about it because we'd had trouble with the last FAST ECU & one MSD control box).

View attachment 1714882613

When I pulled the rocker shaft back off I was pleased with the pattern left on the valve stem.

View attachment 1714882614

It appeared as though I was where we needed to be on the first try. The COMP CAMS 7703 adjusting rod is 7.800" long when fully compressed. I had spread it apart 9&3/4 turns. According to COMP, each turn is equal to 0.05". With my calculations we would need a pushrod 8.2875" long.

View attachment 1714882615

View attachment 1714882616

7.800 + 0.4875" (0.05" X 9.75)

I still wanted to be able to repeat the process to make certain I hadn't gotten some erroneous reading. It took awhile but I set things up two more times and came up with the same results. I know that I'd said I was going to check all of them but 69 340 GTS had said it was unnecessary and I was already feeling I wouldn't be getting any different results if I continued further.

- By the way, THANKS AGAIN 69 340 GTS!
Click to expand...

Nice work,& you learned... That's, the big one..
 
360DartGT66 said:
Thanks! I'm not sure she would be interested in my choice of stops so my idea is to go on my own. As long as she gets a trip to the alps as compensation, I'm sure I'll be fine.
Click to expand...
360DartGT66 said:

And I've been to Nebraska. Kearney. Drove from Omaha a couple of times. I'd like to take a look at the old cold war bunker. What's it called? AMRAD?
Click to expand...


I've never gone to one of those but I know there are a bunch of underground missile silos scattered around the state. There's an abandoned one not far from where I live that was converted to a pig farm years ago. I'd heard that the silo was very deep and had filled with water over the years.
 
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famous bob said:
send the checking pushrod (locked up of course ) to them, they`ll send it back w/ your new pushrods.
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I got a few hours sleep, then woke up and called Smith Brothers. Talking with their tech department I was told to measure the pushrod checker (end to end) with a micrometer or set of calipers. I did and the measurement matched the equation I'd made. They told me they ship out within 24 hours so I may have them here by the end of the week.

The cost was around $10.50 each plus shipping.
 
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Yeah, you did it right! And I can see no real need to send the pushrod checker to them, unless you had no way to measure it. Good luck!
 
69_340_GTS said:
Yeah, you did it right! And I can see no real need to send the pushrod checker to them, unless you had no way to measure it. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's good to hear from someone that knows proper procedure. Regardless of how closely I've thought I've followed instructions, - I often have someone point out that I've left out something important.


 
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Things didn't look too rosy when I got up this morning. I didn't mind having only a few hours sleep because I suffer from insomnia anyway.

I'd expected the guys at Smith Brothers would take the info I'd gathered and I'd have the pushrods ordered within a few minutes. It didn't bum me out when they asked that I get a new measurement with a calipers but it meant a delay. The one I have only goes up to 6" so I'd have to make a trip up town to borrow a bigger one.

Teresa had already left and I was alone. I grabbed the test pushrod and hopped into the F150. When I hit the key the motor barely cranked and it wouldn't start. I was surprised because I hadn't had any problem with it before and I knew the battery terminals were clean. Bummer. Oh well. I guess it wouldn't take long to throw the battery booster on it.

I pulled the hood release and nothing happened. This was starting to get annoying. I hopped out of the truck and gave the hood a quick pop down hoping the latch would release. NOPE! CRAP! SONUVAB#@*!

I spent the next half hour trying to push it down and pull it up. Nothing.

I went inside and Googled F150 hood latch problems and found a video that showed a guy using a long straight screwdriver to release his hood. I went back outside and tried to mimic what I'd seen on YouTube but my grill was a different design and I couldn't access the spot I needed to pry. I spent an hour trying every which way I could think of. I crawled under the truck and tried reaching up from beneath. It was still cold out and my patience was wearing thin.

I went back inside and tried to study images of latches on the net but it didn't help. Eventually I gave up and decided to give Teresa a call to see when she was coming home.

An hour later she was back along with a pack of ankle biters. I took the Sebring up town and was eventually able to find a shop with a large enough set of calipers.

Sometimes I have to wonder if I'm cursed.

 
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